Original item: Only One Available. There is probably no more iconic Civil War image than the young Confederate soldier marching off to war with a large fighting knife in his hand or belt. Early war southern ambrotypes and tintypes offer a big variety and sometimes comical fighting knives of various types, often made by local blacksmiths for the boys of 1861 to take to war. The classic southern fighting knife was usually quite large and robust, with an overall length ranging from 12" to 24" and blades ranging from 8" to as long as 18" or longer! Many of these Confederate-made fighting knives featured large "D" shaped guards, earning them the moniker "D" knives.

Over the years, the majority of local knife makers have remained anonymous, though certain traits and characteristics of surviving knives can sometimes help us make broad statements about the likely region or state from which an unmarked knife originated.

This is an outstanding and very intimidating example, with an enormous 15⅜” Bowie blade showing heavy oxidation spotting and wear. The overall length is 20 ½”, and the pommel has a very interesting pin design, with a slit near the pommel for a knot or other device. This is very uncommon to see on a bowie knife.

The wooden grip has a brass spacer at the top, and looks very clean overall with just some small chips in the wood. We cannot say whether the grip was replaced at a later date, this would require some deeper research. The guard curves upward at the end in a point. The edge of the blade shows heavy sharpening. Both the guard and blade have heavy oxidation spotting.

There are no markings to be found, which makes sense for a D-Guard bowie.

Overall, this is a solid example of a rare and desirable Confederate D-Guard Bowie knife. This would be a great addition to any Confederate fighting knife collection, or any Civil War collection that focuses on the deep south produced arms.

Specifications:
Blade Length: 15 3/8"
Blade Style: Single Edged clip point
Overall length: 20 1/2“
Crossguard: 5”